Glacier Blue Ice and the Blue and Gold - Really, where else but Alaska can you get a view like this on train? The ARR's sole Colorado Railcar built DMU poses in the middle of the famed Grandview loop, arguably the most scenic point on the entire ARR mainline....which is saying quite a lot on this railroad of endless superlatives! Here in the apex of twin 14 degree reverse curves in the midst of a 3% ruling grade the railroad comes within less than 300 yards from the face of Bartlett Glacier, named in 1907 by Alaska Central Railroad (ARR predecessor) civil engineer Frank Bartlett. I probably should have titled this photo "Can you believe I get paid to do this!?" On Thursday the 29th the US Forest Service needed to take a dozen people in to inspect their construction sites at Spencer and Grandview where they are building a series of "whistle stops" and trails only accessible by rail. Since I hadn't been in there in a while I was real interested to see the progress as this is a real exciting project that should draw a lot more people to the railroad. Also, I talked to the ARR's head of passenger marketing about posing the DMU for some promotional shots for future railroad PR use since we weren't on a schedule and there were no conflicting train movements. All in all a great day out on the railroad visiting with employees, our Forest Service partners, and enjoying the stunning fall scenery. . If you would like to learn more about the Chugach National Forest's Whistle Stop project in conjunction with the ARR please click on this LINK. Note: the photographer is a railroad employee with permission to be on the property and was wearing all required PPE while taking this photograph.
Not
just heritage schemes, not just commemorative schemes - this album is devoted to some of the world's most interesting paint schemes, past or present.
